Sunday, April 15, 2012

Stylish stretch pants?

Another TSL living room view
I thought there was only one errant thing
(a musical instrument) in the background.  But no!
Spot the shoes...
Is there such a thing?  The Sewing Lawyer likes to flatter herself that the answer may be yes.  See the evidence for yourself.

I may have mentioned before that the February, 2012 issue of Burda Magazine is probably the very best in more than a year.  I'm in the process of confirming that, as these pants are the second garment made from that issue.  I could use more of these!  They are comfy, fit nicely, and, made from a black rayon-poly-lycra ponte knit, will go with almost anything.

However, you have to really look for this one in the magazine; it's a gem that Burda seems to have deliberately hidden. They do it fairly often, in my experience.  A brilliant pattern is shown only once (the pattern insert says twice, but in fact they seem to have substituted another pattern for these to coordinate with the grey sack-like top, yellow socks and clunky loafers).  And there, it's outshone by the other flashy garment it is being shown with (the "Miss Butterfly" kimono on p. 17). Bonus: it's sewn up in black, so its features completely disappear on the page.  Why, Burda, why?


I know you may think I am also guilty of hiding the many virtues of this lovely pattern by sewing it up in black, but at least I've tucked in my top so you can see the basic outline.  Here's another view and the line drawings again.


I think you can click on these to enlarge them tremendously.

The side/back, showing seams

So, as you can see there's a deep V back yoke, high waist and fly front opening.  The sides are a strip approximately 10cm (4") wide.  I traced with 2.5cm (1") seam allowances just in case, but after trying them on, decided they fit if sewn on the intended lines except at side front, below the waist.  So in effect, my pants are 4cm bigger around than Burda intended at the hip, and 2cm in each leg.  In the result, they are slim but not tight.

I used a woven cotton for the fly shields and facings to reduce bulk and eliminate stretch.  As I've been doing recently, I constructed them on my sewing machine using a tiny zig-zag (1.5 x 1.5 mm), rather than on the serger.

I can't think of anything else to say, except:  Run and make your own pair!

Flash update (Feb/2014) - This pattern is now available for download on the BurdaStyle website.

14 comments:

  1. Wow, they look fantastic! Really great fit, and the fabric sounds like a dream (I still don't know what ponte is, but I might have already used it, as it sounds a lot like a fabric remnant I found at Dragonfly Fabrics, I loved sewing with it too!)

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  2. These look great on you! I may have to try a pair myself. I agree that Burda loves to hide great patterns. I just posted about dress #131 from the same issue, which they obscured by using a drap, boring fabric and posing the model in such away that all the design details are invisible.

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  3. That is a great pattern! They look great. Alas, I don't have that issue and just checked Burda site and they have 3 pairs of 2/2012 pants but not those ;(

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  4. Yes, great pants! And they look good on your great figure! I will make a note of this pattern for future reference, such as when I go to the fabric store next time.

    And. I-Spy the shoes under the couch!

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  5. Great pants, and what a great pattern. I agree with you entirely on Burda's propensity to hide the really good stuff. Are they afraid we will all like them or what? This looks like it should be a go-to pattern for you for a while. :)

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  6. These are a great pair of pants and they fit you so well!

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  7. Fantastic pants, they fit so well. I have been hoping someone would make them up. I have some lovely dark brown ponti and these would work in my winter wardrobe.

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  8. I agree this is a great pattern. I also made them, but my ponte bagged out quite a bit, which was disappointing. I might try your method of using a woven fabric for the facing. This seems like a very good idea indeed.
    I also agree that the pattern was almost entirely hidden which is crazy for such an attractive and wearable pattern.

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  9. Great looking pant! Such a treat to follow you.

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  10. Thanks for highlighting these pants! I didn't notice them when I flipped through the mag, but now that I see yours, I need to make them.

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  11. Oh, I noticed this pattern, too! I'm going to give it a try in a stretch denim. Your idea of facing a stretch with a woven is brilliant.

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  12. Great pants and thank you so much for your faced fly front tutorial. I tried to make a skirt from Burda with that type of fly and I just couldn't work it out. In the end I gave up and inserted an invisible zip in the back of the skirt instead. I'd like to try again now though - armed with your tutorial!
    Debbie B

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  13. Yay! Burda just put these on their website.

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